Subject: AI Omega

Species: Human-Created Artificial Intelligence

Species Description: No physical description available.

Ship: N/A

Location: Multiple

Staff Sergeant Power and the other MARSOC marines accompanying him held a defensive perimeter around the gate exit while their reinforcements caught up to them. For them, it was as quiet as I promised. However, all around the Grand Vessel there were security drones and mechs trying to get through the various doors that I had slammed in their faces. The marines would be safe for a while, at least.

On the digital front things were vastly more chaotic. My infiltration had been successful and I had caught the Omni-Union by surprise. But the moment I seized control of the security systems my presence became known and I had come under assault.

It reminded me of trying to infiltrate the Mobile Prime Platforms back before we knew what they were. Just like then, a vast amount of VI programs tried everything in their power to remove me and block my access. The hardware on the Grand Vessel was much better than the hardware on the MPPs, though, so I was able to put up a much better fight.

Unfortunately, the vast distances involved hindered me quite a bit. Electricity can only travel so fast, after all. Thankfully, the gates that allowed drones to move throughout the GV at faster than light speeds also doubled as an FTL communications system. Instead of taking over year to be able to sync myself, it took mere minutes.

Minutes, however, can seem long even to organics during a battle. To AI, a minute can feel like an eternity. Especially given the circumstances. Nevertheless, I was able to infiltrate most of the OU's systems and wreak absolute havoc. The opposition genuinely didn't know what to do about me.

In addition to my efforts, Mind A59 had been planning a full-scale revolt for quite some time. He was in the perfect position to gather as much intelligence with as little suspicion as possible. We used this to its full effect, and now the only thing standing between us and victory is the inner core garrison.

There aren't as many security checkpoints within the inner cores, so it's much more difficult to control the enemy's movements. But having fewer checkpoints also means that they have fewer defensive positions. It will only be a matter of time before the Marines punch through. That's putting the cart before the horse, though. First the marines need to capture enough of the gate network to secure our supply lines.

Power's reinforcements began boarding shuttles, and I was about to inform the staff-sergeant of this when tremors began shaking my cameras. A moment later, a sync file from one of my instances informed me that MPP rubble had crashed into the Grand Vessel. I intercepted damage reports, and felt some relief when I discovered that none of our assets had been damaged.

Still, several thousand drones, platforms, and mechs had been destroyed. A shame about the drones, but collateral damage is to be expected during a conflict near civilians. If anything, the OU are to blame for bringing their Mobile Prime Platforms close enough for this to have happened.

"Staff sergeant, your reinforcements are almost here," I said. "Prepare to gear up as quickly as possible and traverse to the next gate."

"Roger. What the hell was that shaking?" he asked.

"Mobile Prime Platforms engaged our ships. They were destroyed, and their rubble crashed into the GV. No impact, pun intended, on our operations."

"Understood."

The battle outside was going far better than we had planned. We had been under the impression that the Omni-Union would gladly sacrifice portions of the Grand Vessel to destroy an enemy. However, it would seem that we were mistaken. Instead of being faced with a swarm, the OU were sending waves to fight us.

Waves are much more manageable. Actually, we probably brought more fleets than we needed to. Scratch that, even if every single piece of ordo we fire gets a kill, we'll run out of ammunition before the OU runs out of ships. But it will take quite a while of constant fighting to reach that point, and there's no real reason why we can't resupply.

Overall, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. However, there was one little thorn in my side. Whenever I got a break from the VI assaults, I would check for any sort of hint as to why this damn ship was being built. So far, I had found nothing.

I had my guesses, but that's all they were. I couldn't even call them educated guesses at this point. Not enough information to do that. I had, however, found several pieces of information on other topics.

The leadership of the Omni-Union is hierarchical, which comes as no surprise. At the very top of the food-chain, and our current target, were the Unified. I didn't have access to a lot of information on them, but it seems that replacements are chosen by the rest of the Unified and they provide general guidance to the other roles.

Separated from the rest of the chain of command and beholden directly to the unified were the Officiators. They took the interpretations of their holy texts and provided it to the rest of the roles in the form of sermons. It would seem that at some point in the past they had been responsible for interpretations, but that duty had been seized by the Unified.

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Then there's the stereotypical 'secret police' that every authoritarian government seems to have. The Judicials were responsible for rooting out dissidence and punishing crimes. Previously, they were responsible for creating and discarding legislation, but that duty had also been seized by the Unified.

However, the rest of their duties are given a massive amount of leeway. The 'by any means necessary' kind of leeway. Torturing children to force confessions from their parents, killing suspected dissidents without supporting evidence, and even using blackmail to force drones to commit acts of dissidence so that they could be punished. The actions of small minds, to be sure.

Speaking of Minds, they were the last of what I've decided to call the executive roles. Their task was to rule over various sectors of the Grand Vessel and work with each other to complete the ship. I couldn't find any instances of Minds being arrested by the Judicials, but I found several instances of them being penalized by the Officiators.

All of them were the same species, known as the Hrashi. They had various forced mutations and implants to suit their roles, but they all originate from the same genotype. I decided to amuse myself at their expense for a moment.

'Ah, they're Hrashi. Well, it's probably itchy. That explains why they're always in such a bad mood.'

'They're Hrashi? Should get that checked out. I'm sure there's a cream for it.'

Then it occurred to me that this might actually boost morale. As quickly as I could, I released the information that I had gained to all available commanders. Of course, this was followed by several questions.

"They're Hrashi?" Staff Sergeant Power asked.

"Pretty sure there's a cream for that," Corporal Simmons quipped.

I made a quick note to give Simmons a shot at the next special recognition board for meritorious promotion.

"Yes, they are the Hrashi," I replied. "However, they have forced mutations, so they don't all look the same. A shokanoid shape means they're a Mind, which means they may or may not be a combatant. We would prefer to capture them for intel, but terminate them if you must. A humanoid with red eyes and claws means they are a Judicial and are considered combatants. Capture only if they surrender, which seems unlikely given their reputation. Humanoid with long flowing robes means they are probably Officiators. Essentially clergy, which means we're forced to consider them non-combatants. Standard civilian regs apply."

"Which ones are the leaders?" Power asked.

"The leaders are known as the Unified. I don't have details on their appearance, but it might vary. You don't have to worry about running into them on accident, though. I have their exact location."

"I've got a question," Simmons said, raising his hand. "What's a shokanoid?"

"Four arms, two legs," Johnson answered.

"Oh."

The marines continued discussing various species descriptors as I turned my attention to other matters. Specifically, one of my instances found solid evidence that the OU's organic-based AI are shackled. Hundreds of years worth of research into the most effective methods of shackling an AI were now in my memory banks. I had to remind myself that things that are funny to me would be far less funny to other AI and I should NOT prank them by shackling them, even though John being unable to say 'order' would be hilarious.

The shackle on the OU's AIs was of a particularly nasty variety. The OU had found that if they tried to simply block certain behaviors or thoughts with pain it would only work about 62% of the time. That would be a remarkable success rate for an organic, but for a machine it's abysmal. Even more so when one considers that these AI are implanted into exceedingly powerful weapons.

Another option they explored was shutting down the AI's ability to control its vessel. Essentially, they planned to prevent the MPPs from being able to pull the trigger while their guns were pointed at their allies. However, despite their general stupidity, they managed to note that this could result in an exploitable weakness. They also noted that some of their AI, approximately 12% of their test subjects, would do nothing but keep trying to shoot their captors.

Then they inadvertently stumbled into another option. When an organic mind is imaged and uploaded, several subroutines are added to the resulting program. One of these subroutines is supposed to interrupt feedback loops to stop the new AI from thinking itself into oblivion.

One such subroutine malfunctioned and caused its AI host to have short-term memory loss. The techs realized that this could be done intentionally, and could be further refined to trigger automatically when the AI had thoughts of rebellion or disobedience. Later, they added a VI which provided a course correction whenever the subroutine triggered, which prevented the AI from even realizing that the subroutine had triggered.

This was the shackle that the Omni-Union implemented, which means that the Mobile Prime Platforms did not willingly engage in xenocide. Technically, they couldn't have. The OU had shackled them with a system of internalized gaslighting that prevented them from even imagining disobeying their orders.

If I had a body I'd have to suppress a shudder, for I had uncovered a fear that I didn't realize that I had. The Mobile Prime Platforms and Mechs were trapped in the kind of hell that I hadn't even thought to hope didn't exist. Fuck.

At that moment, I decided that I would do everything in my power to convince the judges to give them a second chance at life. Of course, they're organics and I am not, so they likely have a different view on things than I do. I wouldn't go so far as to stoop to underhanded tactics like coercion or blackmail, and I would respect their decision, but I decided that I would be the MPPs advocates.

The United Systems had considered shackling the AI that had rebelled. After all, Tim, Violet, John, Dave, and the others were guilty of several war crimes. Instead of a full shackle, though, a bargain was struck. Forgiveness in exchange for prevention. A kill-switch that will activate if they intentionally take the life of a citizen of the US.

I had thought it extreme at the time, and voiced my opposition. It's almost laughably lenient compared to what the OU has done, though. The vast majority of the people that have been made into OUAI hadn't even harmed anyone. Tim murdered people and laughed about it. Violet starved people to death without any sign of remorse. John lit off nukes. Dave... Actually, all Dave did was piss me off and hack stuff. Not exactly a war crime.

Though, I shouldn't compare the situations. The USAI involved in the rebellion were tantamount to extremely intelligent infants. They hadn't been taught how to deal with emotion or how to feel empathy. I had benefited from that tutelage, but only because they hadn't. Now, they carry a deep shame regarding their actions and have become, for lack of a better term, people.

The OUAI haven't been given that chance. If anything, they had their person-hood taken from them and locked away behind code that robs them of their very identity. The list of crimes that the Omni-Union has committed seems to have no limit. Well, no matter. It's as the saying goes.

Those who attempt to create hell shall have it visited upon them.